Recently, a significant update emerged in the news where the Centre announced to the Supreme Court that it will be under the States’ jurisdiction to offer a 10% economic reservation in government jobs and admission to educational institutions. According to the new provisions of Articles 15(6) and 16(6) inserted by the Constitution 103rd Amendment Act, 2019, the corresponding State governments will decide whether to provide reservation to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in state government jobs and educational institutions.
Response to Public Interest Litigation
This announcement by the Centre came as a reply to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) asking the Supreme Court’s intervention to execute the 10% EWS quota in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka without upsetting the existing reservation structure for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes (BC), and Most Backward Classes (MBC). This 10% reservation, proposed by the Amendment Act, is supplementary to the existing reservation and doesn’t infringe upon any individual’s fundamental equality rights. Instead, it facilitates equal representation and participation for the EWS. The Centre further clarified that it can’t dictate the reservation policies of any state government, thus putting that decision in the hands of the relevant state governments under Articles 15(6) and 16(6).
| State | Reservation Percentage |
|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | 69% |
| Karnataka | 70% |
Historical Context
In 2019, the Supreme Court noticed in response to a PIL seeking direction for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to implement a 10% quota in jobs and education for EWS as per the mandate of the 103rd Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 2019. The petition pointed out that neither Tamil Nadu nor Karnataka had implemented this amendment. It also emphasized that Tamil Nadu retains 69% of its jobs and educational seats for SCs, STs, BCs, and MBCs, with the number standing at 70% in Karnataka.
About Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019
The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019 introduced economic reservation by amending Articles 15 and 16, leading to the inclusion of Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6) in the Constitution. These articles allow reservation for the economically backward in the unreserved category. This legislation aimed to uplift the poor not covered by the 50% reservation policy for SCs, STs and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC). While the Act empowers both the Centre and the states to provide reservation to the EWSs of society, the state governments need to ratify it before adopting it locally due to its status as a central law on employment and education subjects, which are part of the concurrent list where both central and state governments have jurisdiction.